Business digital ID for UK should launch in 2027, be mandatory within two years: TBI

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) has published a new paper, “Rebooting the UK’s Tech-Diffusion Ecosystem to Drive Growth,” which urges the government to introduce “a digital identity for business” – a unique identifier issued at registration with Companies House for all UK businesses.

TBI says this would allow the government to know more about what businesses are doing and what stage they’re at, so it can more effectively allocate resources – “a real-time profile of each firm’s needs and opportunities, surfacing relevant finance, training and advisory options” that are “tailored to each company’s stage of adoption and sector context.”

A business digital identity, or digital company ID, would link data about each firm, including verified contact, sector, size, region, digital maturity and adoption journey. TBI believes this would improve communication, connectedness and “business dynamism,” by supporting firms that are thriving, and doing better to proactively engage “firms that are disengaged from existing programmes” with tailor-made communications and incentives.

TBI says a UK business digital ID system could be built on the existing GOV.UK Verify and One Login architecture, to minimize development costs. “Beyond the benefits of a more personalised technology-diffusion ecosystem, a business digital ID could benefit the economy through reducing administration costs and fraud. In the financial sector alone, a digital-identity system could save 1.7 billion pounds (about US$2.2 billion) in compliance costs per year.”

The paper notes how other countries, such as Singapore and Estonia, have shown that a business digital ID can be effective and developed quickly; in TBI’s view, 2027 is a reasonable target for a UK launch. It expects enthusiastic uptake, citing a 2025 UK survey which found that eight in ten small-to-medium-sized enterprises would be “willing to pay for a Digital Company ID service to save time, increase efficiency and improve data security.”

While it allows for a transitional period, TBI’s vision is all-in, recommending that the digital ID become mandatory for businesses within two years of launch, “with access to major programmes and support offers available only through this mechanism.”

Article Topics

Companies House  |  digital company ID  |  digital ID  |  Gov.UK  |  KYB  |  Tony Blair Institute  |  UK digital ID